


Leave Me On My Own with a Tape Recorder

by DwarvenBeardSpores



Series: This Is How Shmerr Can Still Win [1]
Category: Rusty Quill Gaming (Podcast), Stellar Firma (Podcast), The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Crack Treated Seriously, Gen, Isolation, Paperwork, Space Pals Special, Structure? What is Structure?, TMA season 4, Vaping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:07:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22106038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DwarvenBeardSpores/pseuds/DwarvenBeardSpores
Summary: "If he wishes to use it, it would need someone already touched by the Eye. And if he wants to control that someone…""They need to serve the Lonely."--Shmerr is saved. Peter finds a backup plan.
Relationships: Peter Lukas & Shmerr
Series: This Is How Shmerr Can Still Win [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1816333
Comments: 40
Kudos: 73





	Leave Me On My Own with a Tape Recorder

**Author's Note:**

> It's 2020 folks, have this nonsense which has been Haunting me. Yes I could have made this a post consisting of about 10 words, no I did not do that, instead I wrote a whole fic for it. And I have no regrets.

The Lonely did not bring people together. That was really the whole point of it. But there was a sort of murky area where someone who was so deeply in tune with the Lonely that they breathed solitude instead of air could, if they cared to, sense the presence of a person just at the edges of the  Foresaken , ready to fall in. It was a way to feed . It was a way to hinder potential new avatars. Sometimes, it was a boon.

Peter Lukas had stepped into the Lonely following the distant promise of a heavy lunch and emerged in outer space. It took him a moment of hanging, weightless-- barely shrouded in mist and breathing in solitude-- to realize where he was.

Peter had never been to space before. It was too much work, really. The closest he’d come was going in on the Daedalus project, and until space travel became something of a luxury he could hop on at a moment’s notice, he wasn’t too keen to break his comfortable routine on Earth. 

Now, though, he was actually  _ in  _ space, watching the empty darkness spool out past pinpricks of light and of life-- so far away yet still visible enough for Peter to know he was  _ apart  _ \-- feeling the cold deeper than any he had ever felt seeping in through his protection. He didn’t recognize the patterns of the stars. It made him feel terribly  estranged , and for a moment Peter thought he might like to stay here, adrift. 

But of course, for the Lonely to take him this far,  ther e had to be someone here whose loneliness was an anchor. 

And there they were, drifting past, covered in a grey spacesuit. Their shape put Peter in mind of the Stranger. There was something not quite human about the proportions. Something unsettling about the striking, sagging, facial tattoo visible through the helmet. Oh, but it smelled delicious. A cold despair that had been fermenting out here, becoming something quite unique. 

Peter did not ask why they had been floating in space alone. He did not stop to question that there was non-human life in the void. He simply thought about taking them, and into the Lonely they went. 

Sound does not travel in space, and sound travels poorly, if at all, in the Lonely. Sound is easily muffled by thick, protective gear. But still, Peter heard something that made him pause. 

The whir of a recording device. 

He narrowed his eyes, wondering if Elias could have possibly planned this. 

The thing spoke. There was no reason for Peter to understand it, but maybe there was some type of universal translator in the being’s gear, or maybe the Lonely felt that a lack of communication would be more palpable if there was no language difference to blame. Whatever the reason, when Peter paused, a weak, nasally voice drifted out of the suit. 

_ “... log. Date…. Unknown. I have been… saved. A being the kind of which I… have never documented before… surrounded by a cloud that I can only assume he is secreting himself… has pulled me to safety. I do not know where I am but I… can only hope… he is in need… of an efficiency manager...”  _

The recording device clicked. The being, exhausted perhaps, weak and alone, fell silent. This was not one of Elias’s, Peter was sure, but they did carry the mark of the Eye about them. 

Peter licked his lips. He was not in need of an efficiency manager  _ per se--  _ not when Martin was doing so well-- but this thing certainly intrigued him. 

Elias’s wager  _ had _ specified that Peter  must use Martin, but it never specified that Peter couldn’t have a backup. After all, where else would he find someone with such perfect affinities to the Eye and to the Lonely? 

All that preparation, and Elias had never thought to look up. 

In a few days, Peter would regret attempting to prepare two candidates for the Lonely at once. It was too much work.  A day later, Peter would fall into a bitter argument and a deep sulk as this alien challenged him for the title of Acting Captain of the Magnus Institute.  Still,  Peter would feed on this new loneliness, and tell himself that the strange aftertaste was just an outer space thing , and not a sign of his plans going wrong. And of course there was only so long he could keep anything hidden from Elias.

But right  now , Peter Lukas felt very clever indeed. 

* * *

Captain’s Log. Date unknown. 

I find myself thinking about the inevitability of bureaucracy, and the comfort it brings me in this time of change. Truly if there is one constant in this crazy, mixed-up universe, it is the necessity of paperwork and structure. 

Peter Lukas, my new contractor and the human who saved my life, has not been in to see me in several days. I am gratified by the trust he is putting in me and can only admire his commitment he has to that hands-off management style I, myself, have been experimenting with. It is a little bit awkward, as I am new to this planet and have not received much in the way of onboarding, but I know a spreadsheet when I see one. And these accounts... ohhh someone’s been making a mess of them. But I’ll sort all that out, don’t you worry. 

I still have not seen much of this planet, besides glimpses out the windows. It seems to have a lot of trees, which I must say I’m not thrilled about. I’ve not had a great record with ecosystems, now have I? Still, the office is well-sealed, and temperature controlled to be nearly as cold as the vacuum of space, and that seems very considerate.

And I’m able to really dig into this paperwork without the distractions that come from people coming in and being a bother. I’ve got three briefcases  full of papers,  now, all very expensive I have been assured, and that’s much better than being a fugitive of the law on a bloody terrible tree, isn't it? 

Additionally, this isolation, I’m told, has a very specific purpose. Peter Lukas has referred to me as his “secret weapon” and I can only say that I’m glad to find someone who appreciates my talents. With all the vague mentions he’s made of extinction, I can only assume I’ve been hired as a front for yet another ecosystem heist. It would be nice to know exactly what the plan is, to begin to work out those tricky logistics, but I suppose that’s where the “secret” comes in. 

That said, it seems like it’d be hard to keep a secret in a place like this. I haven’t actually _seen_ any type of viewing device, not that I’d know what a human one would like anyway, but I do get the same feeling I got in prison, that someone’s keeping a rather close eye on things...

I do hope that it is my contractor who’s keeping that eye, and that he notices I’m out of supplies... Despite my initial impressions, humans do not secrete moisture clouds in the same way  Desoliums do. But some, like Peter Lukas, have figured out a workaround. It’s called “vaping”. I must say, it does bring me back to the good old days when I could go about my business safely contained in my own moisture! The  liquid  do es run out surprisingly quickly, however, so I am hoping to see Peter Lukas, or anyone at all really, rather soon. 

Well. I’m taking a few liberties with the word “see.” Getting a little rebellious these days, aren’t I? What I mean is that I’ve been doing some observations of my own. In addition to the vaping, I’ve been taught a handy little trick for disappearing that’s very useful when it comes to peeking in on the rest of the staff here. Very busy, very inefficient, all sorts of office drama. You can check the previous tapes for the details. Also, I’ve begun creating my own personnel files that I will check against the official ones, once Peter Lukas  actually brings them to me. “Stabber” and “Lots Of Eyes” won’t be getting very good performance reviews, that’s for certain. 

In the meantime, I’ve been given some accounts to read that are supposed to explain things. I’m not really sure this is the best use of my time, given that there is still work to be done on the spreadsheets, but I might as well try and get this task over with. 

So, this is today’s statement, about some type of extinction. Read by me: Shmerr. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I'd love to know what you thought. If you have any thoughts about how Shmerr's presence affects the finale, go wild. Mine are out of scope for this project, haha.
> 
> I can also be found on tumblr as dwarven-beard-spores, twitter as @beardspoes, and dreamwidth as dwarvenbeardspores.


End file.
